Scared of School

However hopeless your situation may seem, you have to remember that school is just one way of being educated. Even so, these suggestions do require a lot of thought and aren't the easiest things to do. The best resources are libraries and the Internet. If you are thinking about Home Education (Homeschooling for the US) or Autonomous Learning (in the US it's Unschooling) then you really must do your homework, excuse the pun.

Home Education/Homeschooling is basically where the child is taught at home whether it be by a parent, family member, tutor or some other person. There are laws about home education/homeschooling and some people are very wary of it. The idea of taking someone’s education into your own hands is pretty daunting but it is nevertheless a popular choice as it allows more freedom as you learn. Some people worry about how much materials will cost and all the like but there are websites out there to tell you how to budget and everything you need. You can find some of these sites listed on our Links page but try Google for other information. Here are some recommended books:

1. Home Learning Year by Year – Rebecca Rupp
2. The Complete Home Learning Source Book: The Essential Resource Guide for Homeschoolers, Parents, and Educators Covering Every Subject From Arithmetic - Rebecca Rupp
3. 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum: Choosing the Right Curriculum and Approach For Your Child’s Learning Style – Cathy Duffy
4. Homeschooling: The Teen Years – Cafi Cohen
5. The Ultimate Book of Homeschooling Ideas: 500+ Fun and Creative Learning Activities for Kids Aged 3 -12 – Linda Dobson
6. First Year of Homeschooling Your Child – Linda Dobson
7. Homeschool Your Child For Free - LauraMaery Gold and Joan M. Zielinski
8. Homeschooling: The Early Years – Linda Dobson
9. Creative Homeschooling for Gifted Children: A Resource Guide – Lisa Rivero

Autonomous Learning/Unschooling is also education at home but the term is used to mean something different from home education/homeschooling nowadays. Whereas in home education/homeschooling you pick a curriculum and work from that, in Autonomous Learning/Unschooling you make your own curriculum. It’s less about the statistics and more about what suits the child. This learning technique tends to be more concerned with enjoying learning than just getting it over and done with. As autonomous learning/unschooling is moulded to each and every person that does it, there isn’t a right or wrong way to do it but it can be more difficult to try and make your own path in learning rather than following a guide of someone else’s. Again, the best thing you can do is research and research and research some more (are you having fun yet?). There are links to websites that explain this type of education in more detail on our Links page. Here are some resources:

1. The Unschooling Handbook: How To Use the Whole World As Your Child’s Classroom – Mary Griffith
2. The Homeschooling Book of Answers – Linda Dobson (Unschooling is included)
3. Teach Your Own – John Holt
4. "And What About College?" – Cafi Cohen
5. The Teenage Liberation Handbook – Grace Llewellyn
6. The Unschooling Handbook – Mary Griffith
7. Better Than School – Nancy Wallace (Look for ‘Child’s Work’ by the same author also)
8. I Learn Better By Teaching Myself – Agnes Leistico
9. Still Teaching Ourselves – Agnes Leistico
10. Our Lives – Matt Hern

Recently, there seems to have been an increase in the number of schools allowing pupils with extenuating circumstances to attend school on a part-time basis. Arrangements are usually different for each one but the basic principle is that the school-phobic will attend school on pre-arranged days, for a certain amount of time and do work set by their teachers - usually in an empty classroom or a support base if the school has one. This is a legal option but you need the consent of the headteacher usually and it is at their discretion so be sure to ask what your school’s policy on part-time attendees is.

Setting up a meeting with the headteacher, setting out what you'd like and showing them how it works for all parties (e.g. certain exams may still be taken helping the school's league table, there are no insurance qualms as the school-phobic will be in the parent/guardian's care for the majority of the day etc.) Schools may see these as a temporary measure before total re-introduction to the school day so stand firm if that is not what you think will help.

Another option might be to try and find out if there are any school-phobic/special education units in your area. These are places for children and teenagers who don't fit mainstream education for reasons like anxiety, disability, physical or emotional damage etc. We have heard of a few of these places, so it might be worth a look into.